Art of covering metallic articles.



No. 805,470. PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905.

E. KBMPSHALL.

ART 0F COVBRING METALLIC ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. zo, 1902.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELEAZER KEMPSHALL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO MANHATTANMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE,

A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ART OF COVERING METALLIC ARTICLES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 28, 1,905.

To @ZZ lz/hom, it 777/691/ concern:

Be it known that I, ELEAZER KEMPSHALL, a citizen of the United States,residing in Boston,l in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theArt of Covering Metallic Articles,of which the following is aspecification.

This `invention relates to metallic articles combined with afacing ofcelluloid or like substance applied to the metal as a covering and as awear-resisting surface or face; and it is one of the principal objectsof the present improvements to furnisharticles of this class in whichthe faced metal surface shall be provided with a limiting component forreceiving the wear or attrition to which the article is subjected inactual use when the extreme outer surfaces of the original article shallhave been slightl y worn away and at the same time to provide means forsuch purpose of the character which Will during the manufacture of thearticle secure certain advantages as regards the process of manufactureand certain important advantages as regards the article itself whencompleted.

It will be remembered that articles of the celluloidal class areordinarily produced and formed into shape While the material is in astate of saturation to a more or less high degree with a solvent used inthe original preparation of such substances, and which when any articleis made therefrom is gradually dissipated, as by evaporation. Also itwill be evident that such solvents as are employed in this art being ofa volatile and highly efcient nature are increased in eficiency by theapplication of heat, and that when a piece of such prepared substance isput under pressure between inclosing dies (as generally required inmaking articles of the character referred to) the die-surfaces close inupon the substance in such a way as to prevent any further dissipationof the residue of solvent then remaining in the substance, which may besaid to be for the time being hermetically sealed by and within theinclosing die or dies. Furthermore, in such manufacturing operations asapplied to said class of materials when these are formed in contact witha metallic surface to be covered thereby the heat and pressure, each ofa relatively large amount, necessary for the proper formation andcondensation of the substance operates to highly expand the residue ofsolvent within the article and also to force out such solvent to thesurface or near to the surface of the layer or body of said substance,and by this means I apprehend the said residue of solvent tends to formbetween the mass of celluloid of like substance and the said metallicarticle upon which such substance may be applied a film or layer of thesolvent, which is thus brought into immediate contact as a solvent withthe said metallic surface, and thus by reason of the solvent filling'the interstices of the material immediately upon the metal articleprevents such material from adhering to the metal article both by reasonof the intervening layer thus for the time being formed of the solventand also by reason of the increased eect so for the time being producedof the solvent upon those particles or atoms of the substance itselfwhich lie directly upon the metal surface.

It is one of the principal objects of my present improvements to providemeans for overcoming these objections and at the same time by so doingsecure a highly-improved result and produce a faced metallic articledurable and efficient in character and adapted to be made with a minimumof material in the surface coating andthe surface coating furnished withmeans for reinforcing and strengthening it and for more eiiicientlydistributing the effects of wear and attrition over the entire article.

In carrying out my present improvements, which are applicable tometallic articles of a wide variety, including buttons, picture-nailheads, buckle-frames, and metal articles generally, I first prepare bysuitable and wellknown methods of manufacture a material of a lcelluloidclass having a solvent substance distributed therein and subject thissubstance to seasoning or drying until the solvent is reduced toarelatively small amountinsufficient to dissolve the material atordinary atmospheric temperatures, and this material is then by means ofheat and pressure treatment combined with and into a layer or sheet offibrous material of the general character of a fabric,

IOO

so that such fabric will be adjacent to one IOS ' In the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating my present improvements, Figure l is a sideelevation, partially in section, of a metallic article made inaccordance with my present invention and having on the metallic body orbase portion of the article a facing layer. Fig. 2 is an enlarged viewcorrespondingwith the sectional portion of Fig. l and illustrates in adiagrammatic manner the construction of the faced metallic article andof the composite facing layer thereon. Fig. 3 is an enlarged andfragmentary view, somewhat diagrammatic in character, illustrative ofthe manufacture of faced metallic articles in accordance with my presentimprovements. Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3, but showing thefaced layer subjected to compression upon the body or base portion ofthe article.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

In Fig. l the body-piece or base for a faced metallic article isdesignated in a general way by 2, and this base will of course be ofsuch particular character in any given instance as may be suitable forthe particular finished article to which the facing is to be applied.The fibrous component, which is preferably a woven fabric, having a meshthrough which the celluloid substance may freely pass under heat andpressure treatment is designated in a general way by F. In practice themetallic base will of course be suitably supported by dies or likedevices during the manufacture of the finished article; but in theaccompanying drawings 1 have not deemed it necessary to illustrate suchdies. In Fig. 3 the facing layer prepared for application to themetallic article 2 is shown resting against said article and with thefabric F located within the celluloid mass C contiguous to the surfaceof said metal portion 2. This diagrammatic view illustrates thecelluloid substance passing between and among' the intermeshing strands5 and 6, respectively, of a fabric that is woven, this being formed ofsuch fabric which I prefer to employ. For compacting and uniting thecomponents of the facingsheet C and at the same time embedding firmlyonto the metal surface 2/ of the bodypiece 2 a suitable metal die, suchas D, Figs. 3

. and 4, may be em ployed,and for the purpose of heating and coolingsaid die, which will ordinarily be done alternately at each operation ofmaking a faced metallic article, the die may be provided with openings,as 8, whereby the heating and cooling currentlnay be circulated throughthe said die or instrumentality D; but in some cases other means ofheating and cooling the dies may be employed. In Fig. 4 the die D isshown forced against the sheet C, thereby compacting and uniting thesame and embedding' thematerial thereoffirmly against the metallicarticle 2. This operation evidently tends, as indicated diagrammaticallyin this figure, to compress the said strands 5 and 6 and at the sametime to force the celluloid substance into these spaces, which liebetween the outermost fibers of thev material of the fabric strands.

In the drawings the fabric is represented asv being a woven fabric madeof strands of a combined or composite construction, and this fabric isshown in Fig. 3 (which is drawn on a greatly-enlarged scale) lying inimmediate proximity to the surface 2 of the metal article 2. The mass ofcelluloidal substance is indicated at C, and by means of the shading andstippling of the figure of drawings I have roughly represented in adiagrammatic way the material forced more or less within the spaces ofthe strands which make up the cords which are woven into the saidfibrous layer; but in said strands certain portions are representedunfilled, and in practice it will be found that the fibers of the fabricmaterial and the cords made up of said fibers are adapted when theprocess of manufacture is carried out properly therefor, to retainwithin them some space, as l0, not entirely filled by the fiowing inamong the fibers of the said celluloid material. When the sheet C hasbeen thus combined at one side thereof with and into the fibrous sheetor layer and this composite sheet is applied to the metal surface 2 anda forming-die, as D, is applied to the sheet C with heat and pressure,the material C will be forced upon the article 2, and by reason of theductile and compressible character of said material C this will beforced upon the surface 2l of said article to accurately and completelyconform thereto; but, as'alread y pointed out, this operationhermetically seals for the time being the said body C between the facesof the article 2 and the die D, and so prevents for the time being afurther escape of the solvent from the substance of the mass C,notwithstanding the tendency of the heat and pressure to very largelyeX-pand, and so drive out the said solvent and notwithstanding that theheat tends naturally to increase the power of the solvent upon thesubstance of the mass C. By reason of the interstices or spaces withinand among the fibers and cords of the fabric, these being located inimmediate proximity to the surface 2', these spaces are now able duringthe process as carried out as set forth to receive therein an essentialproportion of the solvent that is at the same time squeezed out fromamong the atoms of the celluloid substance by the combined action of theheat and pressure, and by reason of this pressure being of a largeamount, whereby the material is forced into an overdense form, whichdensity will naturally increase with the expulsion of the solventtherefrom, more of the solvent naturally flows into the said fabricinterstices or spaces,

thus still further freeing the substance itself from the residuu m ofsolvent which permeated the same at the beginning of the die action,

IOO

IIO

and by reason of the fabric lying close to the metal surface 2 naturallythe said residuum of solvent will iioW most directly into saidinterstices from that portion of the mass C which is in immediatecontact with the surface 2. By means of this organization of the severalcomponents of the complete article the fibers and cords of the fabric(when a Woven fabric) lic immediately adjacent to the surface 2 of thearticle, and so constitute when the article is in use a limiting deviceor element for receiving the attrition and Wear when the mass() shallhave been Worn off on its outer surface to any considerable extent. Atthe same time by reason of the mass C extending somewhat beyond theouter boundary of the said fabric material the outer surface of suchmass is formed by the die action into a highly condensed and polishedsurface of beautiful appearance and perfectly adapted for receivingimpressions and gures of various kinds, such as ornamental designs, &c.,Without interference from the fabric embedded therein. At the same timethe strands and fibers of said fabric engage and interlock within themass of the material, thereby assisting in holding the same in placeeven when the layer C has been subjected to bruising and abrasion to avery large extent, and when the article has thus been completed thestrands and fiber of the fabric act after the manner of conduits fordistributing and assisting in this final dissipation of the solventsWhich during the process of manufacture become stored Within theinterstices and spaces thereof, so that the fabric applied in connectionwith the other components of the article and in accordance with mypresent improvements in the manufacture of faced metal articles hasnumerous and important utilities, the leading features of which I havealready alluded to.

It will of course be understood that the celluloid substance beingnaturally of a semigranular or semifibrous character, usually muchpressure Will be required to force it into very small spaces, Whereasthe solvent being substantially a gaseous material during the finaloperation Will flow in among the interstices With greater freedom whenthe substance is subjected to suiiicient heat under high pressure.

One feature of my present improvements relates to thepreliminarily-prepared and partially-seasoned sheet material for thefacing layer of the article, such sheet material having the fibrousstrands contained within the celluloid substance, and such strandsoperating during the latter stages of the manufacture to limit theadvance of the forming-die toward the metal face of the article, tothereby prevent the die from coming into actual contact with suchportions of the metal face as may, by reason of any irregularity in theconstruction of the metal body-piece, extend beyond the true or properposition for such face. By this means the fiowage of thepartially-seasoned celluloid substance, when this is subjected to theheat-and-pressure treatment, is prevented from extending so far as toendanger the proper formation of the facing, and thus I substantiallyovercome any liability of such irregularity in the formation of largenumbers of articles of a given kind as would cause any considerablepercentage of the articles to be imperfectly formed, and so become aloss to theA manufacturer. By this means also the uncovering of portionsof the surface is prevented, due to gradual Wear While the finishedarticles are in use.

Having described my invention, I claim-- l. As an article ofmanufacture, a faced metallic article comprising a metal body-piece anda facing covering a surface of such bodypiece and composed of acelluloid substance which is plastic When subjected to heat and pressureand which has incorporated therein a fibrous structure With spacesunfilled With the celluloid substance and located Within the mass ofsuch substance in position for receiving sonne of the solvent remainingin such substance during the heat-and-pressure treatment whereby thefacing is made into shape on the metal surface.

2. As an article of manufacture, a solid metallic portion combined witha facing layer composed of celluloid substance having distributedtherein composite strands of fibrous material whose interior spaces areonly partially filled with the celluloid substance.

3. A faced metal article consisting in a metallic portion faced with acomposite facing layer comprising a plurality of sheets of celluloidsubstance free of the principal part of the solvent originally existingtherein and an intermediate sheet consisting of a fabric incorporatedwith such celluloid substance having a larger portion of solvent, saidseveral sheets combined into a single sheet and firmly seated on themetallic portion through subjection to heat and pressure.

ELEAZER KEMPSHALL. Witnesses:

B. C. STICKNEY, JOHN O. SEIFERT.

IOO

